Motor vehicle



Feb. 10. w25.

L. M. WOOLSON MOTOR VEHI CLE Filed July 29, 1920 www magv

Patented Feb.1o, 1925. T

- UNITED STATES PATENT oluucl-z.`

IIONEL M. woOLsON, or DETROIIT, MICHIGAN, AssIGNOn To PACKARD-MOTOR CAB.COMPANY, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION or MICHIGAN.

MOTOI?. VEHICLE.

l To all 'whom it may come/m.'

Be it knowny that I, LIONEL M. WooLsoN, a citizen of the United States,'and resident of Detroit, Wayne County, State of Michigan, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Motor Vehicles, of which form aAnother object of the invention is to provide a shock absorber ofthehydraulic typel having means whereby the rate of iow of the Huidutilized in the device ulatd Further objects of the invention will apearfrom the following specification taken 1n connection with the drawingswhich part of this application, and in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates 'a' shock absorber constructed in accordance with myinvention mounted upon oneof the sid frame members of a motorvehicle,'the'vehicle axle beingwshown in section; 1g. 2 vis a .verticalsectional view of the shockabsorbershown in Fig. 1' and Fig. .3 isasectional view of a modifiedform of the shock absorber shown inFigs.

1and2. ,A

Refe rstto, the embodiment of the invention ustrated in Figs. 1 and 2,I.have

shown ashock absorber comprising a bodymember 10 having Voutwardl lextending lugs 11, which are shown in ig. 1 as secured 'to aside-freinel member' 12 of the motor vehicle. v y

The member 10has a' rock shaft 13V rotatably mounted therein, this shafthaving a square ortion 14 on which 1s secured an arm 15, t Aeoppositeends of the arm being connected by a link A16 to one of the'axles 17 of the; vehicle. It will, of course, be

"understoodthat theusualsprings are inter- Application led `July 29,

may be reg# v19,20. serial No. 399,671.

posed between the frame and axle of the ve-` I hicle.

A cylinder 18 is formed on the lower pori tion of the body member 10,this portion having also formed thereon a conduit 19 which is connectedat its upper and lower ends, as shown at 20 and 21, with thel interiorof the cylinder 18. Intermediate the lower end of the conduit 19 'andthe interior of the lower portion ofthe cylinder 18, I have interposed atubular member 22 which is'formed on or secured to a screw plug 23, themember 22 having a lateral opening 24 into the conduit 19 and having alongitudinal opening 25 which communicates with the-o ening 24 and withthe interior of the cylin er 18. By changing the screw plug 23 abovedescribed, the rate of iiow of the iluid from vthe conduit into thecylinder may be accurately regulated, and it will be evident that thisadjustment may be made easily since it is not necessary to gain accessto the interior of the cylinder 18 but` merely to unscrew the plug andsubstitute a plugs,`

with different sizes of openlngs.

The lower end of the cylinder 18 is closed by me'ansof a cap 26, whichin this instance is screw-threaded into the lower end of the cylinder. Apiston 27 is reciprocably mounted in the cylinder `18 and is providedwith a restricted opening 28 which permits the slow or gradual passage-of the oil or iuid from one side ofthe piston to the ether, and thepiston is also provided with a port 29, this port being formed in atubular member 30 which is screw-threaded into the piston. A ball valve31 is adapted to seat on the dport 29, and a spring 32 engages at one enthe ball valve and at its op osite end a plug 33, which is screw-threadeinto the lower end of the tubular member 30.

The member 30 is provided with a pair of lateral openings`34 whichcommunicate with the interior of the cylinder 18.

Piston 27 is secured lby means of a bolt 35.

- to the lower end of a piston pin or rod 36 reciprocably mounted 1nguiding portions1L00 37 and 38 of the body member 10, and this rod isreciprocated by means of a segmental gear or a pinion 39 mounted on therock shaftr13,`the teeth-of the pinion engaging rack teeth'40 ,formed onthefpiston pin 36. A cap 41 is `mounted on the upper end of u the bodymember and forms a casing for road surface,

Fig. l an piston 27 28 in the piston 27 shown enclosing the upper end ofthe pin 36`as this pin is` reciprocated. Theupper :wall of the cylinder18 is provided with a vent 42 for the passage of air.

The shock absorber above described operates as follows: When the vehicleframe and axle' are separated due to irregular the movement of the arm"15 in a clockwise direction rotates the pinion 39 in the direction ofthe arrow shown in 2, thereb ownwardly into the cylinder 18. Assumingthat the 'cylinder is substantially filled wlth fluid such as oil,the'downward movement of the`piston will be' retarded by the oil and theoil will gradually be forced upward through the restricted opening 28,and a portion of the oil will also pass through the tube 21 and conduit419 to the upper portion of the cylinder 18. As the frame and axlereturn to their normal position, the oil will pass downwardly throughthe port 29, the ball valve being forced from 1ts seat, and the oil willualso pass downwardly through the conduit 19 to its former position. Asabove stated, the rate of passage of the oil through the conduit 19 maybe regulated by changing the screw plugs and substituting a "plugwithdifferent sizes of openings therein.

The form of shock absorber illustrated .in Fig. 3 is similar to thatshown in Figs. 1 and 2, yand comprises a body member 43 having lugs 44ada ted to be secured to the vehicle frame, and Ihaving journaledtherein a rock shaft 45 having a square portion 46.- The lower ortien ofthe body 'member 43 has formed) thereon a cylinder 47 iii-.whichv isreciprocably mounted-a. hollow piston 48. Piston 48 is provided with apair of restricted openings 49 similar to the opening in Fig. 2, andpiston 48 1s also provided withf a tubular member 50 having a port'51normally closed by a ball `valve 52, the latter being seated by a spring53 interposed between a plu 54 carried by the member 49 and the ba valve52. The tubular member 49 also has lateral openings 55 communicatingwith the interior of the cylinder 147. A: vent 56 is formed in the upperwall of the piston and permits the passage of air therethrough.

The piston 47 is normally retained in the position shown in Fig. 3 bymeans of a coil spring 57, which engages a recessed portion 58 ofthe'piston at itsqupper end and engages a cap 59 carried by the lower'end of the Vcylinder 47 at its lower end. v The piston is reciprocatedin thls instance by mea-ns of a. cam 60 secured tothe rock w shaft 45,itbeing understood that this rock shaft has secured thereto an armsimilar to 'the arm 15 shown in Fig. 1,' this arm h e1ng connected tothe vehicle. axle. The'upper forcing the piston pin 36 `47 issubstantially filled f to end of the bodyy portion 43 of the shock ab'-sorber is closed by means of a cover plate 61.

The form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 3 operates as follows:When the vehicle frame and axle are' in their normalfgelative positionwith respect to each other, the movable partsjof the shock'absorberassume the plsition f shown in full lines in Fig. 3.

ien, however, these elements, namely, the vehicle frame and axle, areseparated for any reason, the ,rock shaft 45 will be rotated and with itthe cam 60. This rotation of the cam 60 forces the hollow piston 48downwardly, and assuming that the cylinder with fluid such as oil, itwill be evident that this oil will be gradually forced upwardly throughthe restricted openings 49 to the interior of the hollow piston. Whentheparts return to their normal position, the piston will be forcedupwardly by the spring 57, thereby unseating the ball valve 52 andrmitting the return of the -oil through-dilee port 51 to the lowerportion of the cylinder 47.

From the above specification describing two embodiments of shockabsorbers constructed in accordance with my invention, it will beevident that in construction these devices are very simple and that theyinclude a. minimum number of parts. It will also be evident thatI thedevices are adapted for successful operation throughout a. Wide range ofmovement;

While certain specific embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated and described, it will be understood that furthermodifications and changes may be` made in the construction and in thearrangement of the cooperating parts without departing from the spiritor scope ofthe invention as expressed in the following claims.

Having described my invention, what'I claim and desire to secure byLetters Pat- 'ent is conduitconnected ati-.its upper endnto thecylinder, and a plug removably mounted in said casing and havingopenings therein connecting the lower end ofsaid conduit with saidcylinder. t 2. A shock absorber comprising, in combination, a casing, acylinder formed thereon, a piston `mounted in said cylinder and having apiston in extending upwardly therefrom, a rock s aft journaled in saidcasing, and means` for operativelyconnect ing said rock' shaft'to saidYpiston pin for reciprocat` said piston.

. 3. shoc absorber comprising, in com-' binaticn,A a ladpted'to beconnected `a. vehicle 'fra1e a. cylinder formed on said openin'gintocasing, a

hollow piston disposed in said cylinder and having a restricted openingand a port therein, and a resiliently actuated valve for closing saidport.

4. A shock absorber comprising, in combination, a cylinder, a hollowpiston mounted therein, and having a restricted opening and a portformed in the bottom thereoi: resiliently actuated means for closingsaid port, means for positively actuating said iston in one. direction,and resilient means or actuating said piston in the opposite direction.

5. In a shock absorber, a c linder, a hollow piston mounted thereinaving a port in the bottom thereof, a resiliently actuated ball valvefor closing said port, means for positively actuating said piston in onedirection, and resilient means for actuating said' piston in theopposite direction.

6. A shock absorber comprising, in combination, a body member, a rockshaft mounted therein, a cylinder carried by said body member, a pistonmounted in said cylinder and having restricted openings therein. and acam carried by said rock shaft for actuatin said piston.

7. In a shock a sorber, the combination of a casing comprising acompartment and a cylinder, a hollow piston operating in said cylinder,said piston being closed' at both ends except for restricted ports,.andmeans in said compartment for operating said piston.

8. In a shock absorber, the combination of a casing comprising acompartment and a cylinder having one end closed and the other endcommunicating with said comartment, a hollow trunk piston o rating 1nsaid cylinder and having both en closed except for restricted ports, andoperatin mechanism in said compartment connected to move said iston.

9. In a vshoc absorber, the combination of a casing comprising acompartment and a cylinder, a. hollow piston operating in said cylinderand having both ends closed except for restricted ports, means in saidcompartment for operativel actuating said piston in one direction anresilient means 1n the cylinder for actuating the piston in the oppositedirection.

In testimony whereof Il my signature.

L IoNEL M. WooLsoN.

